TCM Schedule for Thursday, July 9, 2020 -- What's On Tonight: Memorial Tribute: Max Von Sydow

[Staph]

In the morning, TCM is showing us a selection of films about The Falcon. Then in prime time, it's a tribute to the late Max Von Sydow, who passed away on March 8, 2020. Enjoy!


7:30 AM -- THE FALCON STRIKES BACK (1943)
A society sleuth is framed for murder by criminals running a war-bond racket.
Dir: Edward Dmytryk
Cast: Tom Conway, Harriet Hilliard, Jane Randolph
BW-66 mins, CC,

The $250,000 in face-value Series G bonds stolen would be the equivalent of nearly $3,460,000 in 2016. (Not accounting for the interest or the collector value of these rare bonds themselves.)


8:45 AM -- THE FALCON IN DANGER (1943)
A society sleuth tracks a lost plane carrying $100,000.
Dir: William Clemens
Cast: Tom Conway, Jean Brooks, Elaine Shepard
BW-70 mins, CC,

This marks the first Falcon film in which he has no sidekick or servant.


10:00 AM -- THE FALCON AND THE CO-EDS (1944)
A society sleuth investigates murder at a girls' school.
Dir: William Clemens
Cast: Tom Conway, Jean Brooks, Rita Corday
BW-68 mins, CC,

The use of a "stable" of actors was an accepted practice among movie studios and production companies. This concept was common to stage performances and radio programming as well. Orson Welles had his Mercury Theater performers revolving through his films and on-air dramatizations. In fact, all the studios used this concept, as did RKO in the "Falcon" series. It was nothing exceptional to audiences to see familiar faces in various episodic roles.


11:11 AM -- WAGON WHEELS WEST (1943)
In this short film, a U.S. marshal seeks vengeance against the man who killed his father. Vitaphone Release 1147A.
Dir: B. Reeves Eason
Cast: Lou Marcelle, Rocky Camron, Monte Montague
BW-17 mins,


11:30 AM -- THE FALCON OUT WEST (1944)
A society sleuth turns cowboy to investigate a Texas murder.
Dir: William Clemens
Cast: Tom Conway, Carole Gallagher, Barbara Hale
BW-64 mins, CC,

When Bates turns off the recording of Tex using a remote control, what is shown is actually a Philco "Mystery Control" with the Philco brand name covered up with "Hills". It was the first wireless remote control unit, introduced in 1939 using radio frequency waves to operate Philco radios by tuning preset stations or raising or lowering the volume.


12:48 PM -- EXOTIC MEXICO (1942)
This travel short focuses on Mexico and presents a bullfight, as well as the Mexican branch of MGM Studios.
Dir: James A. FitzPatrick
C-9 mins,


1:00 PM -- THE FALCON IN MEXICO (1944)
A society sleuth travels South of the border to investigate an art dealer's murder.
Dir: William Berke
Cast: Tom Conway, Mona Maris, Martha MacVicar
BW-70 mins, CC,

Some of the Latin American exterior footage that is seen behind the opening credits, and which is inter-cut with the studio-shot scenes and projected behind the cast in some sequences, is rumored but unconfirmed to have come from Orson Welles' never-completed and Brazilian-located RKO documentary "It's All True"; that project was itself the subject of a documentary, It's All True (1993).


2:13 PM -- HOLLYWOOD WONDERLAND (1947)
In this short film, tour guides take visitors on a promotional guide of Warner Brothers' studios.
Dir: Jack Scholl
Cast: Robert Arthur, Wanda Hendrix, Creighton Hale
C-16 mins,


2:30 PM -- THE FALCON IN HOLLYWOOD (1944)
A society sleuth tours the movie capital, where he uncovers an actor's murder.
Dir: Gordon Douglas
Cast: Tom Conway, Barbara Hale, Veda Ann Borg
BW-67 mins, CC,

One of two wartime murder/mysteries starring Tom Conway in which he is aided by a female taxicab driver (due to the "man"-power shortage of WWII). Coincidentally, Emory Parnell and Jean Brooks also appear in both films. The other is Two O'Clock Courage (1945).


4:00 PM -- THE FALCON IN SAN FRANCISCO (1945)
A society sleuth enlists a little girl's help in nabbing a mob of silk smugglers.
Dir: Joseph H. Lewis
Cast: Tom Conway, Rita Corday, Edward S. Brophy
BW-66 mins, CC,

The ship used by the bad guys at the end of the film is the same one seen as a huge prop on a soundstage in The Falcon in Hollywood (1944).


5:18 PM -- AROUND THE WORLD IN CALIFORNIA (1947)
This short film takes the viewer to various sites around California.
C-9 mins,


5:30 PM -- THE FALCON'S ALIBI (1946)
A society sleuth sets out on the trail of a society matron's lost jewels.
Dir: Ray McCarey
Cast: Tom Conway, Rita Corday, Vince Barnett
BW-63 mins, CC,

The shot used when Elisha Cook Jr. falls to his death is recycled from A Woman of Affairs (1928), when Johnny Mack Brown took the same fall.


6:45 PM -- THE FALCON'S ADVENTURE (1946)
A society sleuth rescues a kidnapped woman, then is framed for murder.
Dir: William Berke
Cast: Tom Conway, Madge Meredith, Edward S. Brophy
BW-62 mins, CC,

The 13th of 16 movies featuring the suave detective nicknamed "The Falcon;" the 10th starring Tom Conway.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: TCM MEMORIAL TRIBUTE: MAX VON SYDOW



8:00 PM -- HANNAH AND HER SISTERS (1986)
Three sisters deal with their tangled relationships amidst the wonders of New York City.
Dir: Woody Allen
Cast: Woody Allen, Michael Caine, Moses Farrow
C-107 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Winner of Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Michael Caine (Co-presenter Sigourney Weaver accepted the award on Caine's behalf, as he could not attend the ceremony due to production on Jaws: The Revenge (1987). Caine later said of the poorly-received third sequel to Jaws (1975), "I have never seen it, but by all accounts it is terrible. However, I have seen the house that it built, and it is terrific.&quot , Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Dianne Wiest, and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen -- Woody Allen (Woody Allen was not present at the awards ceremony. Presenter Shirley MacLaine accepted the award on his behalf.)

Nominee for Oscars for Best Director -- Woody Allen, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Stuart Wurtzel and Carol Joffe, Best Film Editing -- Susan E. Morse, and Best Picture

The structure of this movie, centering around holiday gatherings, was based on Fanny and Alexander (1982) by Ingmar Bergman. Woody Allen had long been an admirer of Bergman's movies. This may also explain the inclusion of Max von Sydow, a Bergman regular, in the cast. In fact, von Sydow had wanted to be in Fanny and Alexander (1982), but demands, made on his behalf by his agent, prevented his involvement.


10:00 PM -- THE SEVENTH SEAL (1958)
A medieval knight challenges Death to a chess game to save himself and his friends.
Dir: Ingmar Bergman
Cast: Max von Sydow, Bengt Ekerot, Gunnar Björnstrand
BW-97 mins,

Max von Sydow's first film for Ingmar Bergman.


12:00 AM -- THE EMIGRANTS (1971)
An impoverished farming couple decides to move from Sweden to the U.S. in the 19th century.
Dir: Jan Troell
Cast: Max von Sydow, Liv Ullmann, Eddie Axberg
C-151 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Liv Ullmann, Best Director -- Jan Troell, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Jan Troell and Bengt Forslund, and Best Picture

When filming the scene towards the end, where Karl Oskar walks off to find a better place for his settlement, director Jan Troell forgot to yell, "Cut." Max von Sydow just kept walking and walking, waiting for a "cut", and nobody realized until they took lunch.


2:45 AM -- THE VIRGIN SPRING (1960)
A medieval knight seeks revenge when his daughter is murdered.
Dir: Ingmar Bergman
Cast: Max von Sydow, Birgitta Pettersson, Birgitta Valberg
BW-89 mins,

Winner of an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film -- Sweden

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Marik Vos-Lundh

Max von Sydow is only ten years older than Birgitta Pettersson, who plays his daughter in this movie.


4:15 AM -- HOUR OF THE WOLF (1968)
An artist shares his most painful memories with his wife during a long night on an isolated island.
Dir: Ingmar Bergman
Cast: Liv Ullmann, Max von Sydow, Erland Josephson
BW-88 mins,

Bergman defines "The Hour of the Wolf" as "The time between midnight and dawn when most people die, when sleep is deepest, when nightmares are most palatable. It is the hour when the sleepless are pursued by their sharpest anxieties, when ghosts and demons hold sway. The hour of the wolf is also the hour when most children are born." According to "Films in Review" critic Henry Hart in the U.S. it's about 4 a.m. when the body's resistance is least.

[CBHagman]

1. Simply have to get caught up on Max von Sydow films...

I loved Hannah and Her Sisters, in which he's given the best line (and, it occurs to me, is a good sport).

The Virgin Spring is something I rented years ago and have been haunted by ever since.